News & Insights

Ashby Pate Chosen as a 2017 ‘Top 40 Under 40’ by the Birmingham Business Journal

February 2, 2017

Lightfoot attorney Ashby Pate has been selected by the Birmingham Business Journal as a Top 40 Under 40 professional. The list is comprised of up-and-coming business leaders intent on shaping the future of Birmingham and their industries.

"We congratulate Ashby. He is truly a unique individual and a tremendous asset for Birmingham and our firm," said Lightfoot Managing Partner Wynn Shuford. "We are pleased to see the Birmingham Business Journal recognize his considerable talents and achievements. He is just getting started."

Pate is a Birmingham native who earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado, summa cum laude with highest distinction and his law degree from Cumberland School of Law magna cum laude. After law school he clerked for the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama and then earned his L.L.M. in International Law at Norwich Law School in England. Pate then clerked for the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Palau. He spent three years at Lightfoot as a commercial litigator and then was tapped to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Palau, where he served for three years. While in Palau, he helped establish the country’s jury trial system and wrote an opinion that effectively put an end to solitary confinement in the nation’s prison system.

Pate is a member of the American Law Institute and regularly contributes to that organization’s important work in influencing the development of the law. In his current law practice, Pate represents clients in international disputes, appeals, white collar crimes and medical device litigation. In one of the highest profile cases in recent years, Pate delivered the closing argument for the prosecution in the ethics trial of former Chief Justice Roy Moore before the Alabama Court of the Judiciary, which resulted in the conviction of the Chief Justice. Pate is also a talented musician and the author of a children’s book about Palau, titled Sweet Dreams Palau, published by the Etpison Museum.